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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 16 JANUARY 2006  
 
PRESS/TPRB/257 
16 January 2006 
 
(06-0161) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: MALAYSIA 
Economy gains from openness to trade and investment and 
prudent management 
As a result of its openness to trade and invest ment together with prudent macroeconomic and 
structural reforms in key areas, Malaysia has made impressive strides in its recovery from the Asian financial crisis eight years ago, with GDP growth reaching an impressive 7.1% in 2004 and 
expected to consolidate at 5% in 2005, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies 
and practices of Malaysia.   
The Government’s adoption of policies and strategies to ensure sustainability of growth have 
strengthened the Malaysian economy and its resilience to external shocks, although in the medium term it remains vulnerable to the industrial countries’ business cycle.  
 
Malaysia faces important challenges, according to the report, and import competition may be expected to intensify as domestic barriers are dismantled. In response, Malaysia is focusing on 
higher value-added exports and encouraging servic es exports. Developments in the period under 
review demonstrate the Government’s commitment to moving from an input-driven economy to a knowledge and productivity-driven economy in orde r to generate sustainable economic growth and 
maintain competitiveness.  
 The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Malaysia, will be the basis 
for the fourth Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Malays ia by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO 
on 16 and 18 of January 2006.  
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp257.htm  
 
• Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  > Economic environment  
> Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  > Trade policies by sector  
> Appendix tables  
 PRESS/TPRB/257 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 • Government report  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member 
countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
Israel : 1 and 3 February 2006 
Angola : 14 and 16 February 2006 
Djibouti : 27 February and 1 March 2006 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
 
END